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Writer's pictureGym Reb3l

Weight Loss, Why You Lose Motivation

Updated: Oct 31, 2023


weight loss

Have you ever wondered why you seem to lose motivation when it comes to losing weight


You know WHY you want to lose weight


But it just seems to never happen to the level you want it too


I read in many blog posts that if you have a strong enough WHY then you will never fail

And while that is true to an extent


Losing weight is never really a strong enough reason for most people


And it is why so many people fail when it comes to a weight loss program


Why Hiring A Personal Trainer Might Not Be Right For You


For a lot of people, when they struggle with losing weight they may well go and hire a personal trainer or join a community slimming group


Diet + Workout = Success <<< WRONG


Hiring a personal trainer does not guarantee you success when it comes to losing weight


They may have the knowledge of what you need to do


But it does not mean it is right for you


Why 'Do This, Do That' Approach Is Wrong


If a personal trainer gives you a meal plan, or calories to 'hit' each day and just expects you to do it, run away


Take your money back and go and find someone else


When you are told to just eat this and not that, or hit this many calories per day (plus your protein) then that is not enough


It is a very lazy approach to getting clients to lose weight


This Is The Secret To Losing Weight


The secret to you losing weight... and most importantly, keeping it off

Is for you to learn to develop new habits


Understand the habits you need to create around weight loss is what is important to you losing weight


But to first create a new habit you must understand how habit creation works

It is not as simple as just starting


There is a 3 step process you must understand


C.A.R


Habit creation follow 3 main steps


The 'R' in the above letters stands for reward


Example:


You come home from work and your partner is there


You then go and open a bottle of wine and pour one for you and your partner


You have both been away from each other all day so this is the time you catch up and talk about todays events


While the dinner is cooking, you pour another glass and then carry on your catching up

Now...


The Reward


Is it the wine and the taste?

Is it the time together?

Is it the catching up?


You need to understand what the actual reward is for each habit you have that you may need to change


By breaking it down in to the 3 parts (C.A.R) then you can learn each step and then what the real reward is


In this example, the reward is not the wine


It is the time together, doing something together (making dinner) and the talking


If it is the 3 above you enjoy each day this can easily be swapped to going for a walk/run/gym/class


And you still get the 'reward' you were after


Why You Lose Motivation With Weight Loss


A study in 2014 around rewards for habits was conduct using monkeys


The monkeys would press a leaver


And in return they would get a reward of a drink each time they pressed the leaver


Over time scientists change this and reduced the reward


So each time they pressed the leaver the reward got loss


Overtime some monkeys would stop pressing the leaver


Some would do it less frequently


And others would carry on as normal


What This Means For Weight Loss


When people first start to diet they can lose 3, 4, 5, 6lbs... a week for the first few weeks


But then some weeks the weight (reward) slows down and in some cases the weight may well stay the same


With the weight loss not moving (reward) some people will give up, just like the monkeys... saying this isn't the right 'plan' for them


But this is where most people, and personal trainers go wrong


The reward is mostly focused around the weight change and not the new habit creation


If your weight does stay the same


But you have still kept to your plan

  • Exercises when needed

  • Slept

  • Drank sufficient water

All the new changes you promised yourself to do, you have still done


Then that should be your reward


The reward to keeping up the habit and continuing to change


And that is why 'do this, do that' coaching is not right and will not get you the results you want


Your focus should be around habit creation


With habits come long-term results


Remember though... old habits are still there

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